Please make a tax deductible end-of-the-year gift to the Annual Appeal. This is an exciting time of growth and change for CDSS, and we need your support. Please give by December 31st to help us reach our goal. Each and every gift makes a difference! As Board member John Mayberry wrote in the appeal, "This is a good thing we do."

Holiday Shopping & Gift Membership/Calendar Offer

We have lots of excellent books, recordings, DVDs, notecards, and more in our Store for your holiday giving. Take a look at Doug Plummer's beautiful 2012 Contradance Calendar with his amazing dance photos.

This offer extends through December 31, 2011; order by December 15 for delivery before Christmas.

Recognizing the Best

Bob Dalsemer will receive this year's CDSS's Lifetime Contribution Award at a ceremony on Saturday, December 10, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. The evening will include American and English country dancing for all, with performances by local morris/garland/rapper teams. CDSS President Bruce Hamilton, Board members Carol Marsh and Stephen Stiebel, CDSS Executive Director Emeritus Brad Foster, and the local community will join together in celebrating Bob and his many accomplishments; see the Folk School's event page for more information. Congratulations, Bob!

"Puttin' on the Dance" a Huge Success

Several staff members have just returned from an AMAAZZZING weekend at Puttin' on the Dance -- A Conference for Northeast Dance Organizers. The historic Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction, VT was full to the brim with nearly 80 dance organizers from New England, Ontario and beyond -- NY, PA, MD, TN, MI and TX. See the full story and Max's field report on our blog.

Next up is a Midwest conference for organizers and callers in Cincinnati, OH on Aug 10-12, 2012. For more info, contact Ryan Smith.

CDSS Is Listening

Thanks to all of you who took the time to provide feedback on our recent community survey. We heard from over 900 individuals representing 45 states, five Canadian provinces, and seven other countries. We also heard from a variety of local communities across North America who hosted meetings to talk about their hopes and dreams for CDSS. What an amazing response! See the survey preliminary report on our blog.

Exciting plans are coming together for summer 2012. Some early details include: Harmony of Song & Dance (July 21-28 at Pinewoods) will include singers Kathy Bullock, Mary Cay Brass and Suzannah Park. Ethan Hazzard-Watkins and Anna Patton's plans for American Dance & Music Week (July 28-Aug 4 at Pinewoods) include Jeremiah McLane, Rick Mohr and Josh Van Vliet. Nils Fredland and Ralph Sweet are taking their Singing Squares Callers Course to the great program at Timber Ridge (August 12-19) where Gaye Fifer also has Joseph Pimentel on staff. The Program Directors are finishing up the details of their programs and we should have all details and registration forms on our website by January 1st.

Youth Intern Online

Mary Wesley writes: Hi everyone. I have been working on my online presence so that I can be in touch with more of the CDSS network. Please check out the revised Youth Desk page and my first blog post. For weekly updates about my projects and what's inspiring me, find me on Facebook: Mary Wesley, CDSS Youth Intern.

Staff Transitions

Welcome to Bob Blondin, our new Business Manager, and to Anna Mach, our new part-time Bookkeeper.

Many thanks and a fond farewell to Adina Gordon for her great work at CDSS this year.

Website Improvements

The newly streamlined homepage makes it easier to join our mailing list or catch recent blog headlines. Our online Store now features friendlier navigation, so you can easily search for a specific item or browse by category. If you're shopping in our Store or consulting our online Members Directory, you'll find the process of logging into our site now simpler as well: each page of our site now sports a yellow login bar across the top. Forgotten your username or password? You can email yourself a reminder -- and then, go ahead and change your username to one you'd prefer.

Newsletter

The CDSS News, a CDSS membership benefit -- Look for the Winter issue in January which will include articles about a New Year's dance resolution, a recent trip to the CDSS Library and Archives, a meaningful moment at the recent CDSS-cosponsored dance organizers conference, an excerpt from our new publication about working with older dancers, dancing on the Canadian island of Mayne, and ideas about reinvigorating a dance series by lowering some fees, plus a song, and one or two dances. Selections from the Fall issue are available to all on our site.

Printed Members Directory

The new CDSS Members Directory will be available (to members only) in January. If you are a member and prefer not to be included, or do not wish to receive a printed copy, please respond to the questions in our 11/18/11 email.